


The Witch of Betrayal (Part of the Family)

by GayestCuChulainnFan



Series: Twitter Favorite Servant Drabbles [4]
Category: Fate/hollow ataraxia, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms, 衛宮さんちの今日のごはん | Emiya-san Chi no Kyou no Gohan | Today's Menu for the Emiya Family (Anime)
Genre: Cooking, Drabble, Gen, Model-making
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-07
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2020-04-11 23:27:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19119883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GayestCuChulainnFan/pseuds/GayestCuChulainnFan
Summary: neal be like *writes about his faves being depressed*





	The Witch of Betrayal (Part of the Family)

"We're meeting at the temple next time, right?" Caster turns around to confirm once more. The boy nods. "Well then, see you later, boy."

The walk back to Ryuudou Temple is somewhat long, so she has ample time to think about many things every time she makes the journey to and from the Emiya household. Today, her mind drifts towards one question—"What am I to the Emiya family?"

Her relationship with the boy is very good, in her opinion. A few months ago, they had gradually reached an unspoken agreement. Originally, the boy just taught Caster to cook, and he refused to take payment for her. This was fine by her, but eventually, her conscience got the better of her, and on a whim, she decided to teach him how to make models. He had, after all, seemed interested in her own bottle-ships when he visited Kuzuki's room, and he had no hobbies of his own besides housework.

As for Sakura, she and Caster had forged an alliance of sorts to defend themselves from Lancer's flirty, womanizing caprices. She and Rider, as fellow Servants, have silent respect for each other; Rider would not start a fight with Caster unless ordered to by Sakura, and Caster has no animosity towards Rider. And Caster has no recollection of ever having any major interaction with the teacher, but she seems good-natured.

However, there are three sources of concern for her. Saber, the Tohsaka girl, and the Einzbern girl all have some amount of hostility because of her actions during the Grail War, and their suspicions make Caster doubt her status in the household. Every time Caster goes there to learn to cook, Saber watches from the living room.

She dons a mask of calmness, but no matter how much Shirou tries to assuage her with words of reassurance, Caster can feel wary tension in the air between them. Saber expects Caster to live up to her nickname anytime Shirou turns his back, and Caster, despite her mild infatuation with the King of Knights, is ready to be attacked at any moment. Rin and Illyasviel act similarly when Caster is in their presence. (Although, in Illyasviel's case, it's less out of suspicion than it is clinginess.)

Before she knows it, she's arrived at the temple gate. Her rumination had caused her to lose track of time. From the top of Mount Enzou, she looks out over Fuyuki City. It's miles away, but the position of that familiar house is committed to her memory from the periodic trips. She doesn't have Archer's hawk eyes, but she can still effortlessly zero in on the Emiya house. With a wistful sigh, she enters the temple.

 

"This is...truly exquisite, boy," Caster murmurs as she examines his model with her masterful eyes. Shirou's scarcely been learning for a few months, but he's picked up the art quickly. The piece she appraises now is a project he has been working on for the past few weeks, the culmination of Caster's teachings. It's a scale model of the Emiya household. Every building in the complex has been crafted with careful, dexterous fingers. Ten years of living somewhere nearly alone gives one a chance to become intimately familiar with the lay of the land, Caster supposes.

It's clear that there's been hours of meticulous work put into the project. Not a speck of adhesive is visible in the junctions between the buildings' walls and roofs. Each piece is firmly attached, save for one. Caster gingerly grasps the roof of the main building and lifts it off the walls. She brings it closer to her face to thoroughly examine the figure of Archer glued to the roof. The stoic knight's facial features and clothes are crafted and colored in such a manner that he almost looks alive. Shirou's attention to detail is truly admirable.

Then, she peers into the model living room, and she gasps. Despite all the times she's checked on his progress, the scene pictured in the model never fails to steal her breath. Every member of Shirou's surrogate family is present in the model, made with the same amount of effort as the red paladin guarding them from the roof, and she feels a pang of exclusion as she remembers her reflection from earlier in the week.

Shirou cooks in the kitchen. Lancer and Taiga drunkenly watch TV. At the table, Saber looks impatiently at her Master. Rin and Illyasviel are arguing next to her, and Rider and Sakura watch them. Sakura laughs at what seems to be a petty dispute, and Rider impassively sips tea. All of them make up a picturesque tableau that fills Caster with gloom.

Instead of letting her disappointment show, she calmly places the roof back on the building. "This looks like a pretty complete piece, boy. By the way, do you plan on giving this to someone?"

"Oh, it's not finished yet. There's one more piece to add. Hand me the glue," he rummages through his school bag for something. He glances at her momentarily. "Oh, can you take the roof of the main building for me?" Confused, Caster does as he says.

Shirou finally finds what he's looking for—a model of Caster sitting Japanese-style on a cushion. He carefully applies glue to the bottom of the piece and, since the only empty seat is for himself, places it at the head of the table.

"There. Now it's finished," he replaces the roof.

Caster is at a loss for words. "Boy, I don't...I don't think I deserve to be in that. I'm not really...part of your family..."

Shirou cocks his head in confusion. "Sure you are. That's why I'm giving it to you. Rin and Sakura can walk to my house from school, Fuji-nee practically lives there, Saber and Rider literally do live there, Illya has a car that can go 200 kilometers per hour, and Lancer lives who knows where. You're the farthest from the house, and I think you deserve to have a reminder that you're always welcome in our house."

At that, Caster's dams break. Tears of joy freely flow down her face. "Thank you...thank you so much, boy..."

**Author's Note:**

> neal be like *writes about his faves being depressed*


End file.
